


and would the waves think twice, before smashing you against the rocky shore

by junebugtwin



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Katara (Avatar), Gen, Katara can have a little ptsd, POV Katara (Avatar), Team as Family, Threats of Violence, as a treat, as always, azula mentioned but not seen, rip Zuko, toph stirs the pot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:21:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23111623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junebugtwin/pseuds/junebugtwin
Summary: No one got away with hurting her family, no one got away with breaking her trust- she wasn’t that easy to fool- she wasn’t a stupid silly moron- he couldn’t trick her with a whiny voice or his pitying stance, he couldn’t win her over with his little sob story.---Katara realizes she is the scary one.
Comments: 7
Kudos: 119





	and would the waves think twice, before smashing you against the rocky shore

**Author's Note:**

> I love Katara so very much, but the girls got some issues to sort out.

They were all sitting around the fire, the pile of sticks looking unusually stable and the fire leaping merrily into the sky. Zuko’s, doing- she had seen his disgusted look, all those weeks ago, and had thought the look had been pointed at one of her friends- specifically Toph, as she idly picked grime out from between her toes- she had glared at him, her bad opinion of him gaining more steam in her mind- _Toph needed her feet clean to see, to run away and fight and feel assholes like him coming!_ (Though in retrospect Toph was being a gross dirt troll and Zuko would have been pretty justified in his disgust) She never would have assumed he was pointing such a look of abject _horror_ at their pitiful and clumsily made fire pit. 

It made sense, but they had all been a little shell-shocked the first time they learned that most firebenders could make excellent campfires on the fly. Though she refused to give the prince all the credit- it was a hell of a lot easier to set something ablaze via bending and a lot more difficult to get a flame going naturally. On the run. In the rain. Asleep.

Anyway, they were sitting by their newly improved fire, and somehow things had switched to the topic of Azula. Sokka had fake-shivered, intoning half playfully and half seriously

“ –Yeah, and there’s nothing scarier than Azula!” Everyone had laughed and nodded along, attempting and failing to repress memories of heat and smoke and crackling jagged lightning, a high pitched, tiny scream and-

“Accept for Katara, she’s definitely up there too.” Katara whipped her head around, abruptly shaken from her…trance, dark blue eyes meeting Zuko’s sheepish ones. Katara glared, her brow furrowing- she wasn’t _scary_ , not like Azula was- she was a little intimidating- but so was Toph! So was Aang, when he wanted to be! Zuko shifted, nervously rubbing the back of his neck, eyes still barely meeting hers.

“See? You’re looking at me like you’re a wild jaguargator, and I’m your prey or something- and at least now I kinda think you won’t kill me in my sleep, and I’m still terrified of you.” Toph snorted.

“I can verify Mr.Hotmans constant and hilarious fear of you! He’s practically vibrating!” Aang and Sokka laughed, Sokka’s laugh loudly fake and obnoxious, just to get under the firebenderrs skin.

They continued to bicker, but Katara blocked them out with a frown, her gaze shifting to her feet.

\--------------------------------------------

They were just being silly Katara decided primly, neatly unfolding her makeshift sleeping bag. Zuko was just being a baby, and Toph loved to stir the pot. Katara laid her head down on her very stolen pillow, settling into her covers.

She shut her eyes and promptly fell asleep.

..

…

Katara clenched her fists, her jaw tightening .She wasn’t _scary_ \- she- well, she certainly got angry sometimes, and _okay_ she could be commanding, she could fight- but that- well-

So she got a _little_ angry sometimes. That happened to everyone.

_so let me tell you something right now- you make one step backward, one slip up- give me one reason to make me think you might hurt Aang- and you won’t have to worry about your destiny anymore- because I’ll make sure your destiny ends, right then and there- permanently_

She remembered the feeling, a pooling raging thunderstorm in her throat, muscles clenched tight with rage and anger and _hatred_ , hands itching to connect to Zuko’s frail white skin, to bruise and smash and break- not even to just punch him, to _crush_ him- one pitiful fire nation bone at a time.

No one got away with hurting her family, no one got away with breaking her trust- she wasn’t that easy to fool- she wasn’t a stupid _silly_ moron- he couldn’t trick her with a whiny voice or his pitying stance, he couldn’t win her over with his little sob story.

Katara expected to feel something, reliving these memories with the perspective she had on Zuko now, with the knowledge that he was her friend, that he was now part of the ‘family’ that she was willing to protect. But she didn’t feel…anything really. Certainly not guilty.

Katara didn’t have a fitful sleep, but she did close her eyes, thinking a little sadly- that she certainly would have killed him then, had he even given her half the chance.

Because half the chance would have been all he got, before a circle of icicles were poised above his throat.


End file.
